Brian O'Dea

Brian O'Dea is a noted former Canadian drug smuggler .

Born in Newfoundland in 1948 , he first worked as a minor drug dealer in the province. Moving up he became an importer of marijuana to Canada from the United Kingdom . After being arrested on a minor charge in Canada he served a brief sentence before moving to Jamaica , where he coordinated marijuana and cocaine smuggling operations going from Colombia to the United States and Canada .

Moving to California, he became one of the leaders in exporting marijuana from Southeast Asia in the years after the Vietnam War . Using fishing vessels as cover he brought boatloads of drugs into the pacific northwest United States. Controlling a trucking company, two hundred-foot fishing vessels, and a workforce of 120, O'Dea, partner Tony Franulovich and crew imported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of marijuana to ports in Washington at the business' peak in the early 1980s. He and his partners would then sell the drugs throughout the U.S.

Under increasing threat from the DEA , he quit the business in 1986, but his life declined and he became addicted to drugs. After suffering an overdose in 1988 he rejected drugs, becoming a drug and alcohol addiction counselor. Three years later, however, the DEA finally had assembled a case against him and arrested him. He plead guilty and was sentenced to ten years in jail, being transferred to the Springhill Penitentiary in Canada in 1992.

In 1993 he was paroled and became a venture capitalist in Toronto . He attracted much media attention when, in 2001 , he published a long advertisement in the National Post , advertising his executive management skills and being blatantly upfront about his past, arguing it was the greatest proof of his abilities. He went on to become a television and film producer, producing a number one show ( Creepy Canada [ 1 ] on two Canadian networks.

He wrote the book HIGH: Confessions of a Pot Smuggler -release date April 11 , 2006 (published by Random House ) and in July (by Virgin Books in the UK and Australia). His book won the 2007 Arthur Ellis Award for Best True Crime Book. HIGH will be published in the United States in May 2009 by Other Press.

Currently, a dramatic version of the book for film, as well as a documentary version of same for theatrical release are in pre-production.

ZeWeed Brian O'Dea 1 pdf
ZeWeed Brian O'Dea 2 FRENCH pdf

Al Capone is dead
I drunk whisky in Chicago
A friend of mine told me an amazing story some time ago
As times change ...It's time I share it
He was desperate to find a solution to a dilemma he was confronted to … He had just inherited a castle in France from his grandfather … French aristocrat with Irish roots and title... RockAristocrat … Rare type … Earl Rock'n'Roll ...Rare blue blood ...Being an artist he did not know what to do as he was broke … Broke as could be ! Roof was leaking …. Tiles had flown … Taxes were soon to strangle him .
He had been recently living and painting in squats in East Berlin shortly after the Wall had been taken down ...What to do … what to do ? he thought ….
By chance he was given to read this job offer in a newspaper from Toronto ...It was so surprising it had toured the world at the speed of light ages before viral buzz and social network shit …. Because that one was worth it ! No Kardashian bio It read : " Former Marijuana Smuggler Having successfully completed a ten year sentence incident free for importing 75 tonnes of marijuana into the United States , I am now seeking a legal and legitimate means to support myself and my family .
Business Experience-
Owned and Operated a Successful Fishing Business Multi-Vessel One Airplane One Island and Processing Facility Simultaneously Owned and Operated a Fleet of Tractor-Trailer Trucks Conducting Business in the Western United States During This Time I Also Co-Owned and Participated in the Executive Level Management of 120 People Worldwide in a Successtul Pot Smuggling Venture With Revenues in Excess of US$100 Million Annually I Took Responsibility for My Own Actions and Received a Ten Year Sentence in the United States While Others Walked Free for Their Cooperation Atributes-
I Am an Expert in All Levels of Security I Have Extensive Computer Skills Am Personable Outgoing Well-Educated Reliable Clean and Sober I Have Spoken in Schools to Thousands of Kids and Parent Groups Over the Past Ten Years on the Consequences of Choice and Received Public Recognition
From the RCMP for Community Service I Am Well-Traveled and Speak English French and Spanish References Available From Friends Family and the US District Attorney
Please direct replies to
PO Box …. etc "
That was a bold move !
My friend was high at that time … Well … even higher ...He also was a punk buccaneer from Irish blood. He immediatly ingenuously enthusthiastically wrote to the guy asking him if he'd be interested in helping him running anything like rave-parties or music festivals so he could save the family home from being sold At that time you could not google someone !!! Trust your feelings . Weeks later this man Brian O' Dea wrote back … At that time he could not move to Europe .... but he appeciated the trust and the move …. Let's keep in touch Brian O' Dea was born in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1948.First he smoked pot. Then he bought more so he could sell some ,make some benefit and have his own joints for free.He then worked as a minor drug dealer in the province. Moving up he became an importer of marijuana to Canada from the United Kingdom. You know where is Newfoundland ? Check a map !After being arrested on a minor charge in Canada he served a brief sentence before moving to Jamaica, where he coordinated marijuana and cocaine smuggling operations going from Colombia to the United States and Canada. Moving to California, he became one of the leaders in exporting marijuana from Southeast Asia in the years after the Vietnam War. Using fishing vessels as cover he brought boatloads of drugs into the pacific northwest United States. Controlling a trucking company, two hundred-foot fishing vessels, and a workforce of 120, O'Dea and crew imported hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of marijuana to ports in Washington at the business' peak in the early 1980s. He and his partners would then sell the drugs throughout the United States. Under increasing threat from the Drug Enforcement Administration, he quit the business in 1986, but his life declined and he became addicted to drugs. The Commendatore ! After suffering an overdose in 1988 he rejected drugs, becoming a drug and alcohol addiction counselor. Three years later, however, the DEA finally had assembled a case against him and arrested him. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years in jail, being transferred to the Springhill Penitentiary in Canada in 1992.
End of story ?
Well I need to write an article , don't I !
So years later … Maybe ten … My friend received an email from Brian O' Dea saying he was touring Europe to promote his book "HIGH … confession of an international drug smuggler" "We should meet in Paris ! …. et caetera …. Work Peace and Love mon ami " Brian O'Dea sent a copy of «High « The night before they met my friend remembers being slithly worried when going to sleep.My friend has a trippy brain.And if ? And who ? … What if the guy had the idea to … maybe he wants to deal my huge sculptures to stuff them with God knows what !!! Or … ? Then he fell asleep … No … can't be … He had fathomed the bloke reading his bio … Trust your instinct . They met later on at my friend's place … He had settled … Maybe too much though … Had wife kids … Atelier in Paris … Lovely life … Castle had been sold … Had a "proper" job too … Was still painting .They had a good chat . He had appreciated to be contacted by my friend as many other offers were either dodgy or from criminals seeking infos ...Brian O' Dea was producing tv shows … Kids … My friend showed paintings and sculptures and told me for the little he saw him ,Brian O' Dea was a great guy , extremely charismatic with an extremely positive energy ...They met again once …. Had a try at working together on some videos …. Did not work … Time did its job ... In 1993 Brian O' Dea was paroled and became a venture capitalist in Toronto. He attracted much media attention when, in 2001, he published a long advertisement in the National Post, advertising his executive management skills and being blatantly upfront about his past, arguing it was the greatest proof of his abilities.[1] This man Brian O' Dea is an " entrepreneur" . You know this word "entrepreneur" which as said Georges W Bush the trouble with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur … He was born from a family of entrepreneur . Entrepreuneurial blood flows in his veins …His father was running a brewery in Newfatherland. He was entrepreneur in the Marijuana business . He was a successful entrepreneur in show business . In 2012, O'Dea appeared as Kevin O'Leary's advisor on the CBC Television Reality TV Show Redemption Inc.,[3] a show where ex-convicts compete for a chance to have Kevin O'Leary invest in their legitimate start-up business, and earn redemption. O'Dea's role was to serve as a sort of liaison between the ex-convicts and the rest of the show. For O'Leary, he explains the ex-convict's world (including arranging for O'Leary to spend a night in prison), giving him an idea of where they need to be accommodated and where not. For the ex-convicts, he serves as a mentor during the game challenges, helping them work through their personal challenges as someone who knows what they have been through, how they think, and what their issues might be in a way that would not be as trusted as someone who had not been there, and gotten through it Then … Creepy Canada was a Canadian television series that aired on OLN. It focused on paranormal activities around Canada. The show first premiered on October 23, 2002 and began its third season on May 5, 2006. With the third season, the show's scope was expanded to include paranormal activity reported in the United States. It was originally hosted by Terry Boyle, and was later hosted by Brian O'Dea, who was also the producer of the show And again it was a hit … Entrepreneur I say But there's more to it Old … Very old story …. So old a story you need to think about The Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni ... And a very Catholic upbringing … Where God punishes and the Holy Virgin Mary protects you Either you understand or you don't Comprendra qui voudra … I think he had a try at producing a film about his life after his biography was released … I wonder if the script was not too simple-minded… missing layers like ghosts , the Virgin Mary Lucifer and The Commendatore .Rhum , pirates and buccaneers … Smuggling connections through centuries … Maybe. So what's next ? Entrepreneur I say He's like another friend of mine who built roads and bought huge land in Congo to grow coffee years after he started a small business dealing quinine … They just go ... I met my friend the other week … We had a chat.What's up ? Life ? Reading glasses .. Waking up in the middle of the night for a pee ...Mariage ups and down … Riots in Paris … Yellow vests protests … I'm looking for a story to write for an online magazine … Any idea ? You remember this man I told you about ? Brian O' Dea ? Yes ! So what about him ? Well we kept in touch through social network … So you don't despise those anymore ? Well yes,no, depends .So ? … I've seen photos he's posting on Instagram and guess what …. Turn of destinity …. Revenge ? … He's running a brewery !!! A brewery like beer ? No I'm kidding … He's extracting oil from hemp .First he raised around 3M $….He's now producing 1000 kilos a day of CBD in a facility he's just set up in Denver …. Exporting part of it to Germany …. Then 20M $ more for new facilities in California Colorado Oregon … He works hemp , not cannabis … Way easier he says...You do the maths ? Born in 1948 … He's inventing a market at 71 ! My friend says then … « I called him the other day out of the blue …. He gave me those infos … I was also interested in some other side of the coin … Hum … And … Brian understood immediately … « How do I feel that CBD and cannabis are now legal business in Canada after I served 10 years in prison ? Well man …. The roads around Toronto are paved with the dead bodies of those who played the cannabis hide and seek game …. I now meet CEOs of cannabis companies who were back then judges who had sent some of my friends to life imprisonment … They'll die in prison … Man that's outrageous … " Has anyone imagined Bod Marley's music without marijuana ? Would I mention the Rolling Stones,the Doors,Bowie,Iggy Pop …. history of Rock'n Roll …. History itself It had to be said …. One can drink whisky in Chicago nowadays "Haec decies repetita placebit" It's time to clarify one point … What's cbd to thc , hemp to cannabis ? Hemp, not cannabis per se, is legal pretty much everywhere. The hemp people grew up until now was used, primarily, for seed and fibre. It wasn't cultivated for CBD extraction. Consequently that hemp had perhaps 2 to 4% CBD yield. Today's hemp has no seeds and yields 10-15% CBD and is grown for cannibanoid extraction- CBD, CBG, CBN. This is not pot, grass, weed... it is hemp, and you would not get high if you smoked a field of it. My friend laughed at that point … He then added "You know I never dared grow weed at my parents when I was in my twenties … I was way too scared my father would recognise the leaves as he was a farmer … Very catholic too… He used to grow hemp … when I was 11 to 13 I used to drive the tractor while they were loading the hemp straw on the cart … Then my father thought I was a junky !!! » If one reads the papers , one knows there was a shortage of supply of marijuana in Canada after 2 months … 40% is imported No worry Brian O' Dea is organising 1000 hectares in Columbia to grow hemp . Entrepreneur I say .One needs to master the whole chain from production to extraction to retailer If one read the papers one also knows THC-CBD business worldwide is estimated to weigh 75 billion dollars at short notice … CBD and THC . I quote Ben Current from Forbes : "Two weeks ago, Coca-Cola reacted to rumors that it had begun talks with a Canadian cannabis provider about creating a wellness beverage with cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabis ingredient. The very idea that one of the world's most iconic brands is considering a "Coca-Cola Cannabis" shocked the market. Look no further than Aurora Cannabis, Coca-Cola's potential Canadian partner, which saw its stock price increase more than 300% over the past year and fueled a Q4 revenue increase of over 220 percent." Entertainement and health Brian O' Dea told my friend "One of the companies I am involved with is in 3rd stage trials for FDA approval with CBD at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami.. We, as well, have a group of doctors doing an independent study in Cambodia which we funded. It would be useful to connect all those medical dots, which would result in a more effective, and international study." And I know some clinic in Switzerland are including cbd and nabiximols in their protocol to ease pain for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. I heard in France , the ANSM which the French FDA has allowed research untill end June 2019 to organize ,think study how a therapeutical CBD could be provided imported allowed … in order to start testing its use in some areas of France in order to legalize medical use by 2020 .
So I asked my friend … " What else ? Any other infos ?" I was eager to grab as much as I could to write this article He smiled and said "To be continued … I have another French château to save from oblivion" Then he said no more about Brian O' Dea So … To be continued ! This is history being written ...